Maiko Kobayashi was born in Kanagawa, Japan. She graduated from The Department of Scenography, Display and Fashion Design, Musashino Art University, Japan in 1998, and got the Master’s Degree from The School of Arts and Social sciences, Northumbria University, England in 2008.



Kobayashi represents imaginary creatures with fair complexions and almost ghostly expressions. The little beings that make up Kobayashi's universe seem to be able to disappear, with a single gust of wind, as if threatened by an invisible force. This impression of fragility is also reinforced by the use of everyday paper: newspaper pages, food bags, notepad sheets.



Kobayashi testifies in her work of a very widespread phenomenon affecting the young Japanese generations: the hikikomori. This neurosis consists of withdrawing from society in order to isolate oneself in the extreme. The artist expresses through the image, the voice of those who no longer dare to express themselves and exist in the world, her characters are the reflection of a social reality.



Her exhibitions include: “Living in the City” (Roppongi Hills A/D Gallery, Tokyo, 2016), “DEAR ART” (Gallery WADA, Tokyo, 2017), “Kawaii Thinker” (Shun Art Gallery, Shanghai, 2018), “We are all Kawaii” (Space Zero, Beijing, 2018), “Don’t look at me!” (Pierre-Yves Caër Gallery, Paris, 2019), “Power of Life” (Shun Art Gallery, Tokyo, 2020), etc.